Vampires In Gotham
by VampireMirror
Summary: After a break-in at Penguin’s manor, Dr. Strange finds out the suspected burglars are actually vampires. Penguin enlists the help of Batman, who is already an established hero. Batman decides to help, but on his own terms. Meanwhile, Dr. Strange and Penguin decide to make use of the vampire virus.


Dr. Strange looked through the microscope, perplexed. He had never seen a virus like this before. Three people had broken into the mayor's home the night before, and they were sent to Arkham Asylum. All three of them were dressed in gothic clothing and makeup. The blood sample Dr. Strange was looking at came from one of them

Upon Dr. Strange's medical examinations of them, he found that they all had bizarre teeth. Two of the front teeth pointed downward, like vampire teeth. At first, he was convinced that they were not real, but he took x-rays of all three people and discovered that their teeth were real.

He looked under a second microscope, at a blood sample from one of the other two. He saw the same virus. The virus was there again in the remaining sample, from the last burglar.

Now that he was finished examining the x-rays and blood samples, he needed to talk to them. There were two women, Gerri and Erica, and one man, Jason. He had gotten their names when he performed the medical examinations. He started with Erica.

"What were you doing in the mayor's home last night?" Dr. Strange asked.

"Don't you mean Penguin? He is a criminal, I refuse to call him the mayor." On a clipboard, Dr. Strange wrote: 'Sees the mayor as a criminal.'

"We can call him whatever you like, I guess. Why were you in his home?" Erica did not reply to the question. Dr. Strange made note of this. "Alright, change of subject. You are dressed like a goth and you have vampire teeth. Why?"

"Many people dress in costumes around here. My friends and I just want to fit in."

"Hmm. So that is supposed to explain your real vampire teeth."

"They're not real."

"Do you really think that the x-rays did not show that your teeth are real? Or are you delusional?" Erica raised her eyebrows at this, surprised.

"I'm not delusional, I didn't think about that." She replied quietly.

"I also know that you and your friends are infected with a virus of some kind. Care to explain?"

"We weren't born this way." Erica answered. "We were bitten and infected with the virus. It turned us into vampires. But I swear we can't find who bit us or his clan."

"But he told you there is a clan?"

Erica nodded. "Yes."

"And you know what he looks like." She nodded again. "Good."

*

"Dear mayor, I have brought you an artists' rendition of the man we are looking for." Dr. Strange said after stepping into Penguin's office.

"Good, good." Penguin replied, taking the drawing from Dr. Strange's hands. "He sent those people after me?"

"Not exactly." Dr. Strange said with a smile. "You see, he is a vampire, an actual one, the thing of legends. The three that came here last night were bitten by him and told that if they destroy Gotham, he will come back for them and then they can join his clan."

"You mean to tell me he bit them and then abandoned them?"

Dr. Strange nodded. "Exactly."

"How do you know they're real vampires and not just dressed up?"

"From x-rays that show that their teeth are real and from blood samples that have an odd virus in them."

"An odd virus? So, does that mean that someone created vampirism by altering a virus?"

"That's exactly what this means, and in fact, I know when it was created because I can trace the virus' genetic history. It was created ten years ago, so whatever clan there is has been lurking around for that long."

"That means there might be a lot of people in it."

"Yes, my thoughts exactly. I do not know how to proceed. I'm not sure if you do, either."

"I think I have a plan. It involves Batman."

"Are you sure you want to get him involved?"

"He wouldn't want to see Gotham destroyed, so he would stop at nothing to find this clan. My thought is that I tell him about it, and he can go after them. If he gets infected with this disease, better him than any of my men. Wouldn't want them tricking me into thinking they weren't infected and have them infect me."

"And you know that Batman will tell you if he gets infected. He'd never infect you or anyone else."

"Exactly."

"Very well, I guess that is the best approach."

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

"And the three that came here, is there anything you want to do with them?"

"I would like to ask them some questions. I'll pay you a visit later and you can take me to their cells. Otherwise, do whatever you want. I know you want to run all sorts of tests on this virus."

Dr. Strange nodded and smiled evilly. "Yes, of course. I want to actually multiply the samples that I already have. I want to keep a stash of it around, you never know when it may come in handy. Of course, I would need your approval to keep such a stash."

"Absolutely. If they are weak to the Sun, that could be especially helpful. Infect the heroes and the villains can do whatever they please during the day, and no one can stop us. This could be really useful."

"The Sun isn't the only potential weakness. There's garlic, too. I have no idea whether they have weaknesses at all. But also, there are potential downsides if they have strengths. Can't make the heroes more powerful."

"Oh no, absolutely not. Well, get to it. I'll call Batman and you can start mapping out the virus."

*

An hour later, Batman entered Penguin's office.

"Please come in and have a seat. Can I get you anything?" Penguin asked. Batman shook his head.

"Who is this new enemy you have information on?"

"It's not entirely who, but what." Batman didn't like the sound of that.

"Explain." He said sternly.

"Well, Dr. Strange has found out that vampires exist." Batman pushed his chair away from the table, ready to get up.

"Impossible. This is a waste of time."

"Look, I know it's hard to wrap your mind around, but you need to listen. There's a virus involved, one that Dr. Strange has never seen before, and the people in question all have real vampire teeth, he saw this in their x-rays! And the virus is in their blood!" At this, Batman eased his chair back forward towards Penguin's desk.

"And they're vampires that drink the blood of others?"

"Yes."

"So you called me here because you think I'm involved with this since vampires are associated with bats?" Penguin's face fell at this.

"No!" He exclaimed.

"Do you think they're after me, then?"

"Not that, either."

"Then you just thought I should know."

"Would you let me speak?"

"Fine."

"Thank you, Batman. The vampires want the destruction of Gotham. Of course as the mayor of Gotham I don't want that, and I know you don't, either."

"So you want me to do all the work?"

"That's not what I'm saying!" Batman stood up.

"No, not you, of course not." Batman proceeded to the door to leave.

"Wait, we're not done here, where are you going?"

"I'm going to pay Dr. Strange a visit." Batman replied and walked out the door.

"Wait!" Penguin cried, but Batman continued on. "That didn't go as planned." Penguin muttered to himself before standing up and grabbing his cane. He was going to go to Arkham Asylum also, but he knew Batman would get there much faster than he would, even though he was going by car.


End file.
